I managed to get caught up and watched the highlights yesterday.
Mitch is down to 9 dogs, Petit 11, Ulsom has 13.
One of the locals who comments on the race had this to say 3/12 at 12:48 a.m. AK time:
From the Iditarod...
The front of the pack continues to be dominated by Nic Petit. He made the haul from Kaltag to Unakaleet in one long pull. He rested 5 hours at the checkpoint and pulled out shortly before 7:00 leaving behind one dog for muscle issues.
His pursuers, Seavey and Ulsom, pulled in 4 and 5 hours later respectively. Both rested at Old Woman cabin 20 miles outside of Unakaleet. The chase pack followed suit, resting at Old Woman cabin...that is all except Travis Beals who is looking to join Seavey and Ulsom in pursuit of Petit.
The question is, “Can anyone catch the Flying Frenchman?”
Watching video of Petit’s team last night in Kaltag and again today pulling into Unakaleet, they sure didn’t look like a team that had been beat up by 700 miles of rugged wilderness. They were heads up, ears up, tails up and straining at the harness- clearly eager to go. He has a team ready to run to Nome.
The real race started in Kaltag, but at this point it looks like it’s for positions 2-10.
Six of the last ten Iditarod runs have been 8 day races. This year’s race is likely to go nine days. Even at Petit’s current pace, he still has 33 hours of running time, and that doesn’t account for rests and the mandatory 8 hour stop at White Mountain. So far it’s been an exciting race, but a slow one with heavier snowfall, softer trails and worse weather than in recent years.